Drew Stafford scored three goals to lead the way as the Buffalo Sabres walked all over the Edmonton Oilers to the tune of 10-2 at Rexall Place on Tuesday night. Erik Cole and Robert Nilsson scored for Edmonton.

FIRST PERIOD

It only took the Sabres 10 seconds to get on the board as Thomas Vanek skated into the Oilers zone then fed the puck across the slot to Drew Stafford. Stafford made no mistake, wristing it blockerside past Dwayne Roloson.

Nathan Paetsch then gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead at the 1:11 mark. Paetsch fired a screened shot from the high point that eluded Roloson again on the blocker side slightly off the ice.

After falling behind by two goals, the Oilers were being outshot 3-1 by the Sabres. Head coach Craig MacTavish called a time out and the team regrouped, firing off four unanswered shots on Sabres netminder Ryan Miller.

Buffalo took the game's first penalty when Stafford cross-checked Dustin Penner into the boards putting Edmonton on the power play. Edmonton managed a couple of shots on the five-on-four but the Sabres were able to kill it off.

Buffalo made it a three-goal lead 10:17 into the opening period. Derek Roy's wrister from the slot eluded Roloson. The Oilers netminder got a piece of it but not enough as it trickled in the net.

Former Oiler Jochen Hecht scored 2:02 into the second period to give Buffalo a 4-0 lead. With Deslauriers out of the action due to a mad scramble in front, the puck slipped across the crease to Hecht who was perched at the right post. His shot just made it across the line for the goal.

Five minutes into the second, Jaroslav Spacek wristed a shot from the left point that found its way through traffic but rang off the post behind Deslauriers.

Edmonton finally got on the board with 6:37 left in the second period. Erik Cole took a pass from Robert Nilsson and fired it from the right faceoff circle. Miller got a piece of it but not enough as it slipped into the net. The goal made it a 4-1 game in favour of Buffalo.

The Sabres regained their four-goal lead several minutes later. A pass across the slot right on the stick of Tim Connolly found its way into the back of the net as he wristed it high glove side past Deslauriers for the goal.

Thomas Vanek made it 6-1 with 2:20 to go in the middle frame. Craig Rivet's shot was redirected on its way to the net, eluding Deslauriers low blocker side.

A penalty to Ethan Moreau put the Sabres back on the power play and they capitalized quickly. Jaroslav Spacek teed up a shot from the left point past Deslauriers for the 7-1 marker.

After two periods, the Oilers had a 27-25 edge in shots but were trailing by six on the scoreboard.

THIRD PERIOD

The two sides traded chances about nine minutes into the period. First, Miller turned away a close-in shot from Dustin Penner. The puck then went the other way as Ales Kotalik raced up ice. Deslauriers was forced to make a good save on Kotalik's partial breakaway as he tried to go five hole.

Midway through the final frame, Liam Reddox broke towards the Sabres net and shot the puck just a little bit too high over the crossbar. He then lost an edge and barrelled into Miller, getting a penalty for goaltender interference.

On the ensuing power play a nice three-way passing play between Kotalik, Paul Gaustad and Stafford resulted in Gausted finding Stafford in front. His shot beat Deslauriers five hole to make it 8-1.

1:18 later, the Sabres and Stafford struck again to make it a 9-1 game. The goal gave Stafford a hat trick on the night.

With about 2:30 left, the Sabres had three chances for their 10th goal. The best chance came on a Thomas Vanek wraparound but Deslauriers came across to make the save.

30 seconds later, Robert Nilsson carried the puck up ice and deked out Ryan Miller for the goal, cutting it to 9-2.

With 1:15 to go, Jochen Hecht and Tim Connolly created a shorthanded two-on-one opportunity. Hecht spotted Connolly in front of the net and he pounded it home for the 10-2 goal.